World

U.S.: Iraq's Golden Dome Bomber Is Dead

August 5, 2007 / 3:22 AM EDT / CBS/AP

U.S. troops killed the al Qaeda mastermind of the latest bombing at a prized Shiite shrine, and at least 13 people died when mortars rained down on their Baghdad neighborhood, official said Sunday.

Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badri was the al Qaeda in Iraq emir of Salahuddin province, and the figure responsible for the June 13 bombing of the Askariya mosque's twin minarets, the U.S. military said in a statement. He died in a U.S. operation Thursday, though his death was announced three days later.

"Al-Badri was positively identified by close associates and family members," the statement said.

Al-Badri had also been a suspect in an earlier bombing, in February 2006, which destroyed the same mosque's golden dome and set in motion an unrelenting cycle of retaliatory sectarian bloodletting.

The Askariya shrine in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, is one of the holiest places for Shiites. Despite heightened security put in place after the February 2006 bombing, suspected al Qaeda militants managed to infiltrate the compound and bring down its two minarets in June.

The first attack unleashed a bloodbath of reprisals — of Shiite death-squad murders of Sunnis, and Sunni bombing attacks on Shiites. At least 34,000 civilians died in last year's violence, the United Nations reported.

The second bombing, in June, toppled the two minarets — which for many Shiites, were symbols of resilience in the face of a tireless Sunni insurgency — and dealt a bold blow to hopes for reconciliation.

In Other Developments:

Four U.S. soldiers were killed in separate attacks in and around Baghdad, the military said Sunday. Two soldiers died of wounds suffered during fighting on Sunday in the capital. A soldier also died and two were wounded Saturday during combat operations in western Baghdad. Another died of wounds suffered when a roadside bomb detonated near a U.S. vehicle the same day, during combat near Baghdad.

During a live televised Republican presidential debate in Iowa Arizona Sen. John McCain, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Romney, the most prominent contenders, agreed the United States must remain in Iraq. "I firmly believe that the challenge for the 21st century is a challenge against radical extremism," McCain said. He forecast a battle in the Senate in September in which anti-Iraq war critics will try to cut off funds.

A soldier convicted of rape and murder in the death of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the slayings of her family was sentenced Saturday to 110 years in prison. The sentence was part of a plea agreement attorneys for Pfc. Jesse Spielman, had made with prosecutors that limited the number of years he could serve in prison, regardless of the jury's recommendation.

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